Sunderland will continue to select Adam Johnson after child sex charges

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/apr/24/sunderland-select-adam-johnson-sex-charges

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Dick Advocaat is prepared to name Adam Johnson as a substitute at Stoke City on Saturday if the Sunderland winger decides he is mentally strong enough to play a part in a game the relegation-threatened club are desperate to win.

Sunderland have courted controversy by declining to suspend the 27-year-old former England international, after Johnson was charged with three offences of sexual activity with a child under 16 and one of grooming on Thursday, but the £10m signing from Manchester City remains potentially one of their most effective players. Sunderland officials spent much of Thursday afternoon and evening debating whether to ban Johnson from the club before finally releasing a statement saying he was free to play but that the matter remained “under review.”

It leaves Advocaat free to select his joint top goalscorer – the fact Johnson has scored only four league goals this season highlights Sunderland’s problems – as he strives to keep a team currently one point above the relegation zone in the Premier League.

“He’s in the squad, yes,” said the former Holland coach, who revealed Johnson had not trained since being charged. “If he’s in the squad I will consider him for selection, otherwise he would not be in the squad. He still has to come in [to the training ground] but, in principle, if he feels OK, then he will be a member of the squad.”

Asked if it was a difficult situation to confront as a coach, the 67-year-old demurred. “No,” he said. “The club has made a statement and I will stay behind that and we will wait and see what the future will bring.”

In a guarded, carefully worded comment of its own, the Professional Footballers’ Association issued a tacit reminder that “innocent until proven guilty” remains a central tenet of English law while maintaining a somewhat neutral position on the issue. “Given that it is an ongoing legal matter it would not be appropriate to comment specifically on the case,” it said. “However, we would emphasise that, just like any other individual, Adam is entitled to a fair hearing.”

Sunderland initially suspended Johnson when he was arrested on suspicion of sexual activity with a 15-year-old girl but lifted that ban when Advocaat succeeded Gus Poyet as manager last month. Since then the player, who is due to appear at Peterlee Magistrates Court on 20 May, has been used as a substitute three times.

Advocaat expressed a possibly forlorn hope that, should Johnson play, he will not be subjected to excessive abuse from rival fans but the winger’s psychological condition remains unknown.

With Steven Fletcher, Sunderland’s Scotland striker, sidelined by an ankle problem, Poyet’s successor will do everything in his powers to put Johnson in the right frame of mind as he endeavours to banish the memory of a 4-1 thrashing at home to Crystal Palace a fortnight ago. Advocaat is concerned that Sunderland’s final two games are away at Arsenal and Chelsea and is anxious for his team to collect at least six points from their four matches leading up to those trips.

“If you look at the table we have to do it in our next four games,” he said. “I think six, seven points must be possible, otherwise we don’t deserve it. We have to do it at Stoke.”